Old is not a word that can be used to describe this women's basketball team. With just one senior _ captain Hillary Dunn _ and a new coach, a core of solid young players will have to perform at their highest level for the team to be successful this season.
After going 9-14 overall and 1-8 in the NESCAC last season, there is much room improvement.
"Our goal is to get better everyday," coach Carla Berube said. "There is our big goal of making the NESCAC tournament, but getting better everyday leaves us with a sense of accomplishment."
Despite last year's record was under retired coach Janice Savitz, Berube does not see this as a rebuilding year; she will not wait for her first official recruiting class to arrive at Tufts to attempt to win games. She implemented a motion offense to incorporate a "total team" style that gets multiple players shots.
"Our offenses give us a lot of options so everyone is a threat," junior guard Maritsa Christoudias said. "There is not just one person, there are five people on the floor, and the offenses we're running takes advantage of that. I think our defense should give us a lot of the offense too."
Berube stresses rebounding to set up fast break points to complement the half court motion offense. The goal of the offense is to make opposing defenses tired and open up a good shot. Berube feels to accomplish this; every woman on the team has to have a defined role.
"We had several meetings in the preseason; there is a clean slate from last year," Berube said. "I think everyone will have their own role. Not everyone is going to play 30 minutes a game, but everyone will have a role that will be defined and probably changing throughout the season."
Berube played Div. I basketball at the University of Connecticut where she says she spent six to seven hours in the gym a day, all year round. While the time commitment is not the same for a Division III team like Tufts, Berube did learn coaching styles and rules she hopes to bring to the table for the Jumbos.
"I'm going to push my team," Berube said. "At UConn the coaches got the most out of all of us. When you come off the court feeling like that was the best I could give is what I'm going to push my team to feel."
It is impossible to overlook the fact that the top three scorers from last season's team are no longer playing. Often when a team losses such a surplus of quality players, it hibernates into rebuilding mode, but the team has higher hopes than that.
"On one hand we're starting from the bottom because we lost four starters and last year's finish couldn't have been any lower," Christoudias said. "So technically this year could be regarded as a rebuilding season, but we're expecting more than that. It's a fresh start and I think we're going to surprise a lot of people. We have all the elements we need and if we put it all together we can be more than just a rebuilding team."
Part of the reason for the non-rebuilding year feeling is the talented freshman class. While the team lost four key players, it picked up four freshmen that look to make immediate impacts.
"I think we will have to rely on our freshmen, but I don't look at age," Berube said. "We are all basketball players. We will lay it on the line now. Hillary is a senior, we are going to give it our all for her."
As far as the NESCAC conference goes, Williams is always a contender, but this year's big gun is Bowdoin. The Polar Bears are currently ranked second in the country, but this and the rest of the conference does not intimidate the squad.
"Anytime a team puts on a Tufts uniform, it's all about pride," Berube said.
Berube is focusing her coaching more towards learning that winning. This season is a learning experience for her as well as her team while wins and losses are secondary, but still wanted.
"I really don't care as far as wins and losses," Berube said. "We just want to get better after each game and feel like we gave it our all. We don't want to loss games we should have won, but do want to win games we should win."
The team opens its 2002-2003 campaign at MIT for the MIT Tip-Off Classic against RPI, this Friday at 8 p.m. The Jumbos will play MIT or Emerson in either the winners or losers bracket on Saturday at 1 or 3 p.m.
"Friday will be a great test for the women to see where we are," Berube said.
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